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Issues: Assessment of individual property after adoption of minor child, character of properties after adoption.
Analysis: The case involved the assessment of a widow who inherited properties from her deceased husband and later adopted a minor child. The widow claimed the properties to be joint family properties due to the adoption. However, the Income-tax Officer, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, and the Tribunal held that the widow inherited the properties as an absolute owner under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, and the adoption did not alter the character of the properties. The Tribunal rejected the argument that the widow had thrown the properties into the hotchpotch by filing a return as a Hindu undivided family, stating that such action was not valid for the assessment year in question. The court referred to the Supreme Court judgments in Punithavalli Ammal v. Ramalingam and Sawan Ram v. Kalawanti, which established that the full ownership rights of a Hindu female under the Hindu Succession Act are not affected by post-Act adoptions. The court emphasized that the rights of an adopted son do not relate back to the date of the adoptive father's death if the adoption occurred after the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. Regarding the argument of throwing properties into the hotchpotch, the court cited Pushpa Devi v. CIT, stating that a female member of a joint family cannot blend her separate property with joint family property unless she gifts it or sells it to the joint family. In this case, no valid action was taken to convert the properties into joint family assets. Additionally, the court noted that the relevant date for assessment was before the alleged action of throwing the properties into the hotchpotch, making the argument irrelevant. In conclusion, the court answered both questions in favor of the Revenue, affirming that the properties remained individual properties of the widow and rejecting the claim of converting them into joint family assets. The court awarded costs to the Revenue and clarified the legal principles governing the inheritance rights and character of properties in such cases.
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